Online warehouse management systems can help extend same-day delivery

Same-day delivery is a difficult offering for retailers to provide to their customers, given all of the complications associated with it. It requires intelligent logic that routes orders to the most effective fulfillment locations, deft order fulfillment that picks and packs products without delay and carrier services that can promptly deliver orders to customers.

Approximately 17 percent of the United States’ population is now within reach of same-day delivery.

However, key retailers such as Amazon are actively pushing same-day delivery offerings, forcing other merchants to respond. Amazon has been slowly extending its same-day services over the course of the past year. It started in a few select urban centers such as Los Angeles and expanded into other areas such as Indianapolis. Approximately 17 percent of the United States’ population is now within reach of same-day delivery, according to Internet Retailer.

Now, the news source reported Amazon is extending same-day delivery north of the border. Toronto and Vancouver, two major Canadian cities, are the latest to be included under the arm of Amazon’s same-day delivery umbrella.

“With same-day delivery, customers in Toronto and Vancouver can conveniently take care of errands or complete holiday shopping in a day with just a few clicks…”

“We’re constantly working to speed up delivery times and introduce new services that make our customers’ lives easier,” says Alexandre Gagnon, country manager for Amazon.ca. “With same-day delivery, customers in Toronto and Vancouver can conveniently take care of errands or complete holiday shopping in a day with just a few clicks, receive orders seven days a week and have what they need delivered to their home in a matter of hours.”

For the Canadian market, the addition of same-day delivery is a significant boon. Many customers in the country are used to waiting prolonged periods for orders to arrive because they often shop with U.S.-based retailers because they offer wider product selections and lower prices. Same-day delivery in two major urban centers can do big things for the country’s eCommerce market, which Internet Retailer reported is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 percent over the next couple of years.

Offering same-day delivery is no easy task, particularly when retailers consider the fact they need to be cost-efficient as they do it. They cannot afford to burn all sorts of resources just to get packages to consumers more quickly.

Online warehouse management systems can help significantly in that regard. One report from Aberdeen found that leading retailers can use warehouse management systems to reduce expenses associated with their eCommerce operations, while simultaneously streamlining many functions.

For retailers such as Amazon that want to offer same-day delivery to cities across the continent, the key lies in utilizing regional distribution centers effectively.

For retailers such as Amazon that want to offer same-day delivery to cities across the continent, the key lies in utilizing regional distribution centers effectively. Merchants must be able to identify where an order is coming from, quickly find the closest distribution center with adequate stock and pick, pack and ship the product. There are other variables that can further complicate the measure, such as having to fill an order from multiple locations in order to maximize inventory.

An adequate online warehouse management system can help with many of these processes by giving merchants more visibility into warehouse inventory and organizing the way sellers fulfill orders across one or more distribution centers. Additional features, such as seamless barcode scanner integration, can expedite the picking and packing process, enabling merchants to get products to delivery services in minutes instead of hours.

Meeting expectations

While many customers are still fine with conventional two-day or longer shipping, it is a slippery slope. With more retailers offering same-day delivery, it is only natural for expectations to rise. If merchants do not offer same-day delivery, they will need to consider doing so soon. Online warehouse management systems can help them better coordinate their fulfillment and shipping efforts, allowing them to expedite deliveries.